To many people in America Thanksgiving will simply be an extended weekend of hearty eating, watching parades and football on TV. Some will celebrate the holiday without thanking God for His blessings, or remembering the rich Christian heritage of thanks that our Founding Fathers gave us.

Few of us will be reminded that Christianity shaped all aspects of the Pilgrim's lives, and that thanking God for his many blessings would have been an integral part of their thanksgiving festival.

Mainstay's Thank You, Lord! Preacher's Package will help you encourage your church to place a thankful spirit squarely into the center of your thanksgiving Holiday. Our Thanksgiving Preacher's Package not only imparts references to the well-known Pilgrims' First Thanksgiving, but it also presents other not-so-well-known items of thankful interest.

For example, you'll be able to teach your congregation a long-forgotten hymn that was written by a prominent clergyman in 1863, during the Civil War, for President Lincoln's proclamation, that made Thanksgiving an annual national holiday.

You can show our short Thank You, Lord! video that tells the true story of the First Thanksgiving, and the first national Thanksgiving proclaimed in 1777 by the Continental Congress.

You'll receive a powerful sermon by Dr. David R. Mains to preach from Luke 17:10-19, along with worship service tie-ins, Powerpoint graphics, and even a Powerpoint pre-service slide show for showing before your worship begins, that all prompt your congregation to consider God's blessings that they are thankful for.

And finally, by distributing our Thank you, Lord! thanksgiving journals, on the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving, you'll encourage your people to itemize (from Sunday to Thursday) 50 things they are thankful for, that they can share them with one another at family meal times on Thanksgiving Day.